T Tauri

T Tauri
Location of T Tauri (circled)

The star T Tauri with NGC 1555 cloud nearby.
Observation data
Epoch J2000      Equinox J2000
Constellation Taurus
Right ascension 04h 21m 59.43445s[1]
Declination +19° 32′ 06.4182″[1]
Apparent magnitude (V) 10.27[2]
Characteristics
Spectral type G5V:e
U−B color index +0.80[2]
B−V color index +1.22[2]
Variable type T Tauri
Astrometry
Radial velocity (Rv)+24.6[3] km/s
Proper motion (μ) RA: +15.51[1] mas/yr
Dec.: -13.67[1] mas/yr
Parallax (π)6.9290 ± 0.0583 mas[4]
Distance471 ± 4 ly
(144 ± 1 pc)
Orbit[5]
PrimaryT Tau N
CompanionT Tau S
Period (P)4200+5000
−3400
yr
Semi-major axis (a)2.9+5.4
−1.7
Eccentricity (e)0.7+0.2
−0.4
Inclination (i)52+4
−5
°
Longitude of the node (Ω)156 ± 11°
Periastron epoch (T)B 1967+25
−47
Argument of periastron (ω)
(secondary)
48+34
−25
°
Orbit[5]
PrimaryT Tau Sa
CompanionT Tau Sb
Period (P)27 ± 2 yr
Semi-major axis (a)85+4
−2
mas
Eccentricity (e)0.56+0.07
−0.09
Inclination (i)20+10
−6
°
Longitude of the node (Ω)92+26
−36
°
Periastron epoch (T)JD 2450131+208
−288

(1996 Feb 17)
Argument of periastron (ω)
(secondary)
48+34
−25
°
Details
T Tau Sa
Mass2.12 ± 0.10[5] M
Age0.4[6] Myr
T Tau Sb
Mass0.53 ± 0.06[5] M
Other designations
T Tau, AG+19° 341, BD+19° 706, HBC 35, HD 284419, HH 355, HIP 20390, VDB 28.
Database references
SIMBADdata

T Tauri is a trinary variable star in the constellation Taurus, the prototype of the T Tauri stars. It was discovered in October 1852 by John Russell Hind. T Tauri appears from Earth amongst the Hyades cluster, not far from ε Tauri, but it is actually 420 light-years behind it and not a member of the cluster. The cloud to the west of the system is NGC 1555, known more commonly as Hind's Variable Nebula.

Although this system is considered to be the prototype of T Tauri stars, a later phase in a protostar's formation, it is a very atypical T Tauri star.[7]

  1. ^ a b c d Cite error: The named reference aaa474_2_653 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ a b c Cite error: The named reference aass34_1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference gcsrv was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Brown, A. G. A.; et al. (Gaia collaboration) (August 2018). "Gaia Data Release 2: Summary of the contents and survey properties". Astronomy & Astrophysics. 616. A1. arXiv:1804.09365. Bibcode:2018A&A...616A...1G. doi:10.1051/0004-6361/201833051.
  5. ^ a b c d Köhler, R.; Kasper, M.; Herbst, T. M.; Ratzka, T.; Bertrang, G. H.-M. (2016). "Orbits in the T Tauri triple system observed with SPHERE". Astronomy & Astrophysics. 587: A35. arXiv:1512.05736. Bibcode:2016A&A...587A..35K. doi:10.1051/0004-6361/201527125. S2CID 53053114.
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference mnras410_1_190 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ Flores, C.; Reipurth, B.; Connelley, M. S. (2020). "Is T Tauri North a "Classical" T Tauri Star?". The Astrophysical Journal. 898 (2): 109. arXiv:2006.10139. Bibcode:2020ApJ...898..109F. doi:10.3847/1538-4357/ab9e67. S2CID 219792821.